The Congress has decided to commemorate the first anniversary of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on September 7 by organising padyatras across the country, and has planned a unique launch of the Telangana election campaign on September 17.
Bharat Jodo Yatra, which the Congress believes lifted the political despondency in the country and created hope that the Narendra Modi government can be confronted effectively, started last year from Kanyakumari on September 7. The party will organise 722 Bharat Jodo Yatras all over the country on Thursday evening. Senior leaders, MPs and MLAs, and former ministers will lead the Yatra in their districts.
Announcing the plan, the general secretary in charge of the organisation K.C. Venugopal said: “We are really proud of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that created tremendous enthusiasm and electrified our workers. The Yatra also enthused people who believe in democracy and in the values of this country. The Yatra addressed burning issues of the country, including back-breaking price rise, unprecedented unemployment, cronyism, divisive politics and brazen threat to national security by the Chinese aggression.”
Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by around 200 fellow Yatris, had walked more than 4000km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering 12 states.
Lakhs of Indians participated in the walk over 136 days.
The Congress wants to use the occasion of its first anniversary to not only remind people of the exceptional struggle but also kickstart preparations for the parliamentary elections.
There is strong speculation about early polls after the government called a special five-day session of Parliament from September 18. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called a meeting of Opposition parties on Tuesday to plan for the session.
The Congress parliamentary strategy group will also meet.
Kharge has called the first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) at Hyderabad in Telangana on September 16. Although the CWC has met outside Delhi on special occasions in the past, this meeting is clearly linked to the Assembly election in Telangana where the Congress is hoping to make a comeback.
On September 17, there will be another meeting of the extended CWC at which all chief ministers, PCC presidents, Congress legislative party (CLP) leaders, and parliamentary party office-bearers will be present. A massive rally is planned in the evening. It will be addressed by Rahul and Kharge.
September 17 has suddenly become important for Telangana, with all parties announcing their own programmes.
The Centre has declared that it would celebrate “Telangana Liberation Day” on September 17, the day the erstwhile Hyderabad state was annexed to India. The state government has also announced celebrations for three days.
Venugopal said: “After the public meeting, the Congress president shall flag off the cavalcade of CWC members, PCC presidents and CLP leaders, who shall visit each of the 119 Assembly constituencies of Telangana. Separate Assembly segments have been assigned to each leader. As the Parliament session starts on September 18, MPs have been exempted from this outreach programme. Other leaders from across the country will join the campaign in Telangana, a unique exercise planned by the party.”
The door-to-door campaign will involve the distribution of pamphlets listing the five guarantees that the Congress has promised for the state, apart from a chargesheet against the K. Chandrashekhar Rao government.